Unforgettable Love

Beaten to within an inch of his life and left for dead, he is found by Rachel Summerfield. Though small in stature, Rachel manages to bring him to her cottage in the woods. Between caring for her ailing mother and the man, Rachel begins to feel a renewed sense of purpose. Indeed, when her mother dies, if it were not for the man with no memory, she would have no reason to go on. When one night, Maxwell, the Captain of the Palace Guard arrives, demanding the nameless man, she hides him, knowing in her heart a great wrong has been done to this man. When he finally wakes, all he can tell Rachel is that he believes that perhaps his name is Christopher. It feels like a name that he has responded to in the past.

Christopher struggles to remember his past while fighting for his life, yet he is unable to truly reason out what has happened to him. Maxwell returns again and again to the cottage, demanding to know where the injured man is. Rachel holds firm in not revealing that Christopher lives and resides under her roof. In a fit of rage, Maxwell burns her house to the ground, leaving her homeless. Bits and pieces of Christopher’s memory returns, but only through dreams. Snatches of memory and a lingering scent that is not Rachel’s. Bit by bit he finds himself caring for the young woman who saved his life, yet without knowing who he is, he can offer her little. When the memory that the answer lies in London comes to him, he and Rachel begin the journey there, yet it is not a simple journey as Maxwell dogs their every step, the blood lust to finish the deed of murdering Christopher driving his sanity from him.

UNFORGETABLE LOVE by Ms. Hinchy-Wertman transports readers to 1560 and the intrigues and bloodthirsty noblemen of the time. In his steadfast determination to kill Christopher, Maxwell quickly becomes a character that one can only dislike. He is vile, heartless, and utterly despicable. This reviewer couldn’t wait to see if and when he would get his and just how it would happen. There is nothing redeeming about the man. What a well-crafted villain!

Christopher and Rachel are the kind of couple readers will root for. Each has their secret—Rachel one she will not disclose, Christopher one that he does not know. Christopher’s dream scenes are well done, leaving the reader feeling as if they too are on the edge of discovery.

The story fell short for this reviewer in two aspects. The first was the number of times Rachel and Christopher were attacked during their journey to London. They would no sooner escape one attempt on their lives and another happened. While this reviewer understands that this could lead to suspense about why Christopher was beaten in the first place, it becomes repetitious. Elimination of a few of the attacks would make for a tighter story.

The other is one of the characters that speaks in the language of the time using “thy” and “thou” while the rest of the characters speak in a more modern way. Either they should all have spoken in the dialect of the time or none. It made the character that spoke in that manner seem odd, almost like they were in the wrong story.

Despite the sad overtone that Christopher is headed towards certain death, and Rachel’s willingness to follow him to the grave, there is humor and, in London, some excellent fight scenes.

There are all too few romances set in this period being written and that is sad because it is such a rich time. Ms. Hinchy-Wertman tells a tale that historical romance readers will not want to miss.

June 2007